Cherished by the Rancher: A Christian Cowboy Romance (Black Rock Ranch Book 1)
Page 12
“Nope,” Adam grunted. “Just Number 52.”
Wes pushed on the cow’s belly in particular places, depending on what Adam said, while Adam shifted and pushed and pulled inside the beast. Maddy stroked the coarse whorls on the cow’s face and murmured nonsense words.
After what seemed an interminable time, Adam stepped back and pulled the mucky glove off. “Got it. She should do okay now.”
In an instant, with two pushes, the calf dropped out and landed on the ground. The cow stood tiredly until Wes came and released her head. Adam cleared the calf’s nostrils for good measure, and they all backed away as the cow turned and started licking.
“Another bull calf,” Adam announced proudly.
“Wow,” Maddy said, amazed at the new—and wet—life. “That was really fast. Why didn’t she lie down? Doesn’t it hurt him to drop like that?”
“Nope,” Adam and Wes said together.
“Seems most cows give birth standing up,” Adam added. The two cowboys went to a spigot outside to wash up, but Maddy just stood and gazed.
A newborn calf with big, dark eyes and floppy ears, and a mother intent on licking every piece of it she could reach. Maddy had never realized that animal mothers were so loving. She supposed most of it was instinct, but she liked knowing that Number 52 cared about her baby and would probably protect it with her life if a predator came close.
With the mom still licking, the calf stuck out its two front legs and tried to stand. A few tries, and it was up. And then down again. When it managed to stay up, it tried to suck from between the cow’s two front legs, but finally found her udder and latched on. The cow switched her tail contentedly and somehow kept licking the calf’s rear end.
“You need a name, little one,” Maddy murmured.
Wes cleaned up the afterbirth, washed again, and said, “G’night, boss.”
Adam thanked him and came to stand beside Maddy. “Pretty incredible, isn’t it?”
Maddy searched for words from her full heart. “It’s awe-inspiring. New life from God.”
They watched for a few minutes, Maddy feeling at home with Adam standing close. The peace of the moment and the warmth emanating from Adam opened Maddy’s heart. She wished she could tell him her story, tell him who she really was. But she had trusted Mr. Wilkins with her life already—she needed to trust his advice now.
She let her mind wander from not being able to tell Adam to Adam himself, and how he wasn’t nearly as intimidating as when they had first met. She knew him better, had seen inside his heart just a bit, and she liked what she saw.
She wondered what she’d find if she really got to know him. What did he want out of life? How had he handled his mother’s death as a teenager? Did he have a relationship with God?
The calf finished nursing, and its mother almost licked it over. It folded its front legs to lie down, and Maddy turned to Adam. “Look, its—”
“Do you—” Adam said at the same time.
They both stopped, waiting for the other to keep speaking. Instead, the silence drew out as their gaze met.
Adam’s blue eyes were dark with fatigue, but there was something in them Maddy hadn’t seen before. He began to speak, then closed his mouth again. That mouth that suddenly seemed so kissable.
Adam’s eyes dropped to Maddy’s lips, then back to her eyes. She wondered just what he saw in them—eagerness or apprehension? Or perhaps just an openness to possibilities?
She tilted her head just a bit, and he leaned closer. A whisper of his breath touched her mouth.
“Hey, Adam! How’s the cow?” Caleb’s voice broke the silence of the night.
Maddy jerked away.
Adam took a step back just as Caleb entered the calving shed. “She’s fine,” Adam said, almost growling. “And it’s one in the morning—what are you doing up?”
“Couldn’t sleep, thought I’d check. Hi, Maddy.” Then he looked between them. “Oh, did I interrupt something?”
Maddy turned away, not able to stop the blush from rising up her cheeks. He could have easily walked in on them kissing.
“Only the admiration of new life,” Adam said, a touch of nonchalance in his voice. “It’s a bull calf.”
“Good. Think we’ll keep this one?”
Maddy could almost hear Adam’s shrug. “We’ll see how he’s looking at weaning.”
Maddy turned, her emotions back to normal. “I’ve got to get back,” she said. “See you tomorrow.”
Adam nodded to her, his eyes warm and inviting.
“And I’ll make sure I announce myself before I interrupt!” Caleb called.
Maddy blushed again, but she was already heading out. The cool air and sparkling stars helped calm her once more. What do you think, Lord? My life seemed too much of a mess for this, and I haven’t dated since Brock. But could it maybe be a good thing with Adam? If it’s possible, could You keep me safe and let me be happy at the same time? She wanted to follow His will, and she found herself hoping this was part of it.
19
Adam ended his phone call and took a moment to admire Maddy’s concentration on her work, not to mention her glorious hair and richly tanned skin. This was definitely a woman he’d like to spend more time with. The workers were almost done fixing her office, but he hoped they’d take a few extra days.
“Hey there,” he said softly, not wanting to startle her.
She looked up with a smile. “Hey, Adam. I didn’t see you come in. I’ve got the bills set up to pay electronically now, so you can check them anytime. And I’ve got some details on Mrs. Evans’ doings.”
“Yeah?” He pushed their almost-kiss out of his mind and sat down while she pulled up a spreadsheet.
“I’ve done January through November of last year. Everything was fine until some small overpayments in those last couple of months.”
He rubbed his jaw, wondering how they could have been so wrong about the old accountant. “We didn’t have any sort of precautions set up, did we?”
Maddy looked at him with those warm, brown eyes, and Adam thought he’d like to sink into their depths and forget business altogether.
“Unfortunately not,” she said. “I’ll let you know what else I find.”
He nodded, but was reluctant to finish the conversation. “What do you think she was doing? Were the starting bits a trial run for later?”
She shrugged, her hair swaying as she turned back to the screen. “Maybe. Or maybe she just wanted some extra for Christmas presents.”
“Except she kept going.” Adam took the opportunity to admire the highlights in her curls until she looked at him again, and he jerked his gaze back.
“I’ll know more in another few days,” Maddy said, all business.
Dang. Had he mistaken her reaction the other night? No, he didn’t think so. Maybe she was just very work-focused. He stood and moved the chair to its original spot. “I’m going into town and wondered if you wanted to get away from the computer for a bit.”
“Yes!” She grinned up at him. “Well, not that I’m desperate to leave the computer behind, but if you wouldn’t mind adding a stop at the store, there are some things I need to pick up.”
Adam smiled. You could put a city girl on a ranch, but you couldn’t keep her away from shopping. “In about half an hour?”
“Sounds good.” Maddy turned back to the computer, her mouth still quirked up in pleasure.
Adam walked over to the stables and found his younger brother working a two-year-old. Caleb had an easy lope on the mare already, and Adam was once again amazed at the masterful way Caleb had with horses.
“Adam. What’s up,” Caleb called when he noticed him. He slowed the mare to a halt.
“Heading into town,” Adam responded. “You got that list of grain you need?”
“In the tack room. And could you swing by Stevenson’s and pick up a saddle for me? I dropped one off for repair a week ago.”
Adam grinned. “What’d you do, run over it with a tr
uck?”
Caleb shook his head. “Got careless and left it on the ground near Idiot Girl here. Stupid horse picked it up and threw it! Tore a strip out of the leather, too.”
“Sounds like the horse wasn’t the stupid one.” Adam was serious now. “You haven’t needed a minder for a while now. What happened?”
It was Caleb’s turn to grin. “Remember Brenda Riley? She came by, and…I kind of got distracted.”
“Sheesh, Caleb, you aren’t a teenager anymore!” Adam’s voice was sharp. “You can have all the fun you want with your girlfriends—”
“She’s not a girlfriend, she just—”
“—but not when it impacts the running of this ranch. Grow up, would you?”
Caleb’s eyes narrowed. “And just who made you my boss?”
“Dad, that’s who.”
“Since when?”
“Since he’s getting tired and forgetful and can’t do it all.”
“Ohhh.” Caleb drew out the word. “I get it. He didn’t suddenly promote you—you’re taking charge behind his back.”
“I am not. I don’t do anything he’s not aware of. It’s just…dang it, I don’t have time for this. I’ll be back with your grain later.” Adam spun on his boot heel and stalked away, the earthy smell of the barn giving him no pleasure. Caleb got to ride horses all day and dance with pretty women all night. He had no idea what it was like to have the responsibility for everything.
He entered the tack room and noted with satisfaction the bridles hanging neatly, the saddles lined up on their racks, the ropes coiled and looped just so. At least Caleb knew what he was doing in his own domain. When he paid attention, anyway.
The feed list was on the counter next to a package of Equiiox. Adam wondered which horse it was for, and if Caleb had discussed it with the vet or just ordered it online. Then he grabbed the list and tried to put the rest out of his mind. He had a quasi-date with a lovely lady and he didn’t want to be preoccupied with problems.
“So where are we going?” Maddy asked as she used the step-side and the handholds to pull herself into the truck. It was a big truck, and she didn’t have a lot of height on her, but she didn’t give him a chance to help her up.
Adam buckled up and started the engine, the quiet purr making him smile inside. He liked his machinery running well. “The bank first—I have to pick up some papers. Then the feed store and the saddle shop.” He steered down the long driveway and looked at Maddy before turning onto the road. “And then, if you’re willing, some pizza? It’s been a long time since breakfast.”
Maddy laughed. “You’re offering to take an Italian girl to an American pizza place?”
“I didn’t think of that,” Adam stammered. “Uh, there’s also a burger joint and Sally’s Diner.”
She waved a hand at him. “No, no, pizza is fine. I really don’t expect authentic pizza unless Nonna is making it.”
“Are you sure? We can—”
“I’m sure. I hung out at Abbie’s Pizza on Friday nights as much as any other kid in my high school.”
Ah, here was his chance to get to know her better. “So what were you like as a teenager? What did you like to do?”
Maddy let a lock of hair curl around her finger. “Pretty typical, I guess. Hanging with my friends, going to football games, a party here and there.”
“Cheerleader?” Adam could totally see her with pompoms and a short, sassy skirt.
“Hah! In my dreams! I wasn’t one of the popular kids. Too nerdy, too fat.”
Adam looked at her sharply. “You? Too fat?”
Maddy shrugged and kept her voice normal. “I call it curvy now, and I try to keep it under control. But in high school…yeah, fat.”
“And teenagers can be cruel.” Adam tried to remember if he had been one of the obnoxious kids who had teased others, but nothing stuck out.
“College was better—I wasn’t needing to fit everyone else’s expectations so much. And I had a supportive family who helped me realize you don’t get to choose your body type, and that food is an integral part of life and love and family.” She cracked a grin. “Especially if your Italian grandmother lives with you.” She settled partly sideways and leaned against the door. “So what about you? Were you a jock in high school?”
Adam chuckled. “Our high school barely had a football team, and basketball was intramural at lunch. Now, if you count rodeo…”
“Big, bad bull rider?” Maddy sent a smile his way that could carry him a long time.
He smiled back, but shook his head. “I don’t have that much crazy in me. Seth and Caleb did bronc riding, though. Me, I was pretty good at calf roping—skill and speed instead of danger.”
Adam regaled her with rodeo stories the rest of the way down the mountain. He’d never really met someone from California, someone who didn’t know at least the basics of rodeo sports.
Maddy stayed in the truck while Adam retrieved the papers Dad needed from the safe deposit box, and then Adam backed up to the feed store loading dock.
Maddy gasped as she got out. Square bales of alfalfa and straw lined one side of the covered area. The other held sacks of about thirty types of livestock feed. “Soybean meal? Beet pulp pellets?” she read. “I thought it would be oats and maybe corn for chickens.”
Adam laughed. “There are more types of feed concentrations than you can imagine. Horses need different feed than sheep, and a working or breeding animal needs nutrients that retired animals don’t.”
“How do you balance it all?” Maddy asked, reading a few labels closely. “Protein content, energy, vitamins and minerals. You’d need a degree in nutrition to do this.”
“Well, yes. That’s what I went to college for.”
She turned to him quickly. “You have a degree in nutrition?”
“No, ranch management and animal husbandry. There’s more to ranching than just branding or driving cattle to summer pasture.”
“Oh.” Her mouth stayed in an O shape as she read the next label. Adam’s heart sighed—he could stare at her expression forever.
“I never dreamed it was so complicated,” she said. “It’s not the carefree life that shows up on TV, is it?”
“Unfortunately not.” Adam shook his head, both in answer to her question and to clear away feelings that were quickly becoming too strong. “And when you add two brothers and fourteen ranch hands to the twenty horses and eleven hundred head of cattle, it gets worse.”
He gave his list to Curt, who worked the feed dock, and escorted her inside the building.
It wasn’t a huge store, but there were a lot of ranchers around Beaver Falls, and it was crammed with most anything they would need. One side of the space was given over to tools—anything from hammers and pliers to tractor parts and batteries. The rest was split out by animal type, with a refrigerator for vaccines and other medicines that could be given without a vet.
Maddy wrinkled her cute nose at the smell of worming pastes and first aid ointments, but liked the aisle of halters, grooming equipment, and tack. “Leather smells so good,” she said, holding a bridle close to her face.
Adam inhaled deeply. “Yup. Leather and wood shavings—enough to make any man happy.” He had the feeling Maddy could make him happy even without leather and wood, but he kept that thought to himself.
“Black Rock, you’re ready to go,” came over the loudspeaker.
“I guess Curt has us loaded up. Ready for the next stop?” He offered her his arm in an old-fashioned gesture and smiled when she slipped her hand in and walked with him.
An hour later, they had picked up Caleb’s saddle and stopped at the grocery store, then parked the heavily burdened truck in front of Sam’s Pizza Palace. Adam helped Maddy down and kept her hand clasped in his. He smiled inside when she didn’t draw it away.
They sat across from each other at a booth, browsing a list of toppings and combinations. “Got a hankerin’ for anything in particular, ma’am?” Adam said, putting on a drawl.
“Oh, I’ll go for meat as much as the next guy. But this time, you choose.”
“Something not so predictable, then,” she said. “Chicken, bacon and artichoke in a white sauce?”
Adam blinked. Who would want those three things together on a pizza?
“Or is that not manly enough for you, cowboy?”
“Is that a challenge? You should know I don’t back down from a challenge. Chicken and artichokes may be sissy, but I can eat as much of them as the next man. Or woman.” He grinned at her and motioned for Tasha, whose hair was red this week. She’d worked there for years, and he’d even dated her for a bit, but it hadn’t worked out.
“Hi, Adam,” Tasha said, snatching quick glances at Maddy. “You haven’t been in for a while. How ya been keeping?”
“Doing fine, Tasha, keeping busy. This is Maddy Ricciolino. She’s our new accountant.”
Tasha looked directly at Maddy now and grinned. “Nice to meet you, Maddy,” she said. “It’s about time Adam took up with someone classy. And I love your hair. Wish I could have curls like that.”
Maddy turned a pretty shade of muted pink. “Thanks, but I can’t claim any credit. It just does its own unruly thing.”
Tasha looked at Adam, then back at Maddy, before turning to her notepad. “So what can I get you? The usual meat-lovers, Adam?”
“No, a medium chicken-bacon-artichoke.” Adam kept a straight face, but it wasn’t easy. “With white sauce,” he added.
Tasha stared for a moment. Maddy seemed to be holding back a snort. Tasha looked between them with narrowed eyes. “Chicken bacon artichoke, got it.” She turned toward the kitchen. “A sissy special, Sam,” she shouted.
“Uncalled for, Tasha,” Adam muttered.
Tasha just wriggled her rear as she walked away. Adam cringed at what Maddy must think.
But the woman in question burst into laughter. “You’ll like it, I promise,” she said when she could speak again. “And Tasha…wow.”